Tell me a story
by Captain101
Summary: This is my drabble archive. They dont tell a whole story - they're all separate. Some based from songs, some not. All Howince for now. XD
1. Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

**_AN: Any fic with 'Song Drabble' at the top were written for a LJ challenge. You're only allowed to write for the length of the song. This is one of them._**

**Song Drabble**

**Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk**

**Rufus Wainwright**

_Cigarettes and chocolate milk  
These are just a couple of my cravings  
Everything it seems I like's a little bit stronger  
A little bit thicker, a little bit harmful for me_

And then there's those other things  
Which for several reasons we won't mention  
Everything about 'em is a little bit stranger, a little bit  
harder  
A little bit deadly

It isn't very smart  
Tends to make one part  
So brokenhearted

Vince was long accustomed to cravings.

When he thought about them for the first time, he was sure that only pregnant women got cravings. And he was 99% sure it wasn't possible he was pregnant. For one, no matter how he dressed, he wasn't a woman. Secondly he hadn't had any for _ages!_

When he really thought about it, Vince couldn't trace it back to when he started craving things. As far as he was aware, he'd been impulsively wanting things since forever.

It was however easy enough to trace back when he started craving the one thing he couldn't have.

Howard.

He knew exactly when he'd started having to leave the room. When he'd started watching Howard - even when he was sitting still. It didn't matter if Howard was moving or not. Everything seemed to just entrance him.

He wanted Howard.

He craved the one thing he couldn't have.

And it was messing him up.


	2. See who I am

**Song Drabble**

**See who I am**

**Within Temptation**

See who I am,  
Break through the surface.  
Reach for my hand,  
Let's show them that we can  
Free our minds and find a way.  
The world is in our hands,  
This is not the end.

I'll come into your world,  
See through your eyes.  
I'll try to understand,  
Before we lose what we have.

He always trusted his reflection.

Vince always saw two images – in his own mirrors, he saw what everyone else saw. He saw the hair, and the eyes, and the outfits. He saw the lies.

When he looked at Howard, when his own blue eyes met those tiny, brown orbs, he saw reality. Saw the truth.

Sometimes when the darkness was too much. When the image the mirrors showed him were just too much, Vince would peer into Howard's eyes. Plead him with his bright, gleaming eyes, so dangerously close to tears; tell Howard without saying a word, that everything was wrong. That he didn't know who he was anymore. Because he didn't. There was only one person who knew who Vince was. Who he really was. Vince only ever trusted Howard to pick him up, to tell him who he was, when he couldn't take the mirrors lies anymore. Because the real Vince was what Howard said he was.


	3. Breakdown

**Song Drabble **

**Breakdown **

** Daughtry**

_Well, it's not the time to breakdown.  
It's not the time to breakdown.  
It's not the time to break up this love,  
Keep it together now.  
It's not the time to break._

He knows he can ruin it all if he opens his mouth. So he closes it. He knows that if he breaks it he'll never fix it. He knows if that happens he'll never forgive himself.

He knows that it feels like their story is nearing the end. He knows he's the only one who sometimes thinks they're characters in a novel, directed by some higher voice. He knows that he has no control over what happens next. He knows that now is the moment where everything they have is waiting to be told what happens next. He knows if he says something it will be the wrong thing to say. So he doesn't say anything. He just does the first thing that he can think of.

He pulls the other man to him and holds him close.


	4. Crash and Burn

**Song Drabble**

**Crash and Burn**

**Savage Garden**

_When you feel all alone  
And a loyal friend is hard to find  
You're caught in a one way street  
With the monsters in your head  
When hopes and dreams are far away and  
You feel like you can't face the day_

_When you feel all alone  
And the world has turned its back on you  
Let me be the one you call  
If you jump I'll break your fall  
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night  
If you need to fall apart  
I can mend a broken heart  
If you need to crash then crash and burn  
You're not alone_

Vince was sulking. Cheekbone had deemed anyone over thirty 'out' and Vince, although youthful, was well aware he was beyond help anymore. Everyone knew that he was over the benchmark – no matter how good he looked for his age.

Howard watched from the doorway, as Vince emitted a pathetic mewling sound and wrapped himself firmly in another layer of duvet. Howard couldn't help but smile at the sight. His friend, no matter his changing moods, would forever be half a child. Back in the kitchen, the kettle boiled and clicked over. Still smiling, Howard went back and fixed up Vince's large mug full to the brim with hot chocolate. Marshmallows bobbed up and down in their own silly dance as he headed back into the bedroom and set it down. He reached into the brightly coloured cocoon and stroked the black hair within.

"Vince?" he asked, another mewl answered.

"Cheer up, little man. Your hot chocolate will get cold."

Vince's real age might have ostracised him. But his outlook never would.

Not for Howard, anyway.

For Vince, that was all that mattered.


	5. Gone

**Song Drabble**

**Gone**

**Daughtry**

_Feeling like this could only mean  
I'm sinking.  
Feeling like this could only mean  
I'm sinking.  
Well, I'm sinking.  
Pull me up.  
I say I thought you would be home.  
You said you never would be gone,  
But you are.  
You are._

The door swung open with a chime that made Vince's head snap up. But Bollo's presence in the doorway only made Vince's large blue eyes crinkle in sadness once again.

It had been five days, eleven hours and forty seven minutes since Vince had come back from the Onion, disappointed with his failure in the Black Tubes to find Howard gone. Five days eleven hours and forty nine minutes since he's remembered Howard's impersonal farewell.

He couldn't hate Howard. He'd tried. Days three and four had been spent trying to hate him, resent him. But he couldn't. Not when Howard's dreams had come true. When he'd finally found the success he so wanted. Even though in the process, he's destroyed Vince's only dream.

Him and Howard, together, forever.


	6. This is the Music Biz

**Song Drabble**

**Disclaimer: Not mine, belongs to Barratt and Fielding and collective artists, this time the gorgeous RID girls. Lucky Fielding.**

**We're in the music biz**

**Robots in disguise**

We're in the music biz, it this how it is?  
We're in the music biz, it this how it is?  
In the music biz is this how it is?

Howard didn't like the music scene, if he was honest with himself.

It was far too judgemental. They never seemed to know what they wanted. It never stood still. Always moving, always yelling, always wanting more.

He'd tried too hard. Given up too much. Got nothing in return.

Vince loved the music scene, if he was honest with himself.

He loved the lights, the speakers, the screaming.

He loved the fashion and the demands. He loved the adrenaline. Loved the rush.

Loved the risk.

Howard put up with it for Vince.

And Vince gave it up for Howard.


	7. Name

**_Song Drabble_**

**Discla****imer: Not mine, belongs to Barratt Fielding and the Collective artists. **

**Name**

**Goo Goo Dolls**

_And scars are souvenirs you never lose  
The past is never far  
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there  
Did you get to be a star  
And don't it make you sad to know that life  
Is more than who we are_

_But if you could hide beside me  
Maybe for a while  
And I won't tell no one your name  
And I won't tell em' your name  
_

Howard didn't like the crowds.

He didn't like being watched, or being scrutinised. He didn't want people to tell him what to be. He wanted a reality, a firm belief in his life; in what he had accomplished. He wanted to trace his existence in scars on his body, in lines on his face.

It was a pity that Vince was the opposite.

Howard didn't want anyone to know his name.

Vince didn't want anyone to forget his.

Except in doing so, Vince culled the people who never would. He couldn't understand that when he was gone, when he wasn't in fashion, the people who adored him would ultimately forget him. While for Howard, the people he surrounded himself with, never would forget him. Howard wanted his name remembered on Vince's lips.

But Vince wasn't content with his on Howard's.


	8. Never Let you Go

**Song Drabble**

**Never let you go**

**Evermore**

_When you go just let me know  
And, i'll appear out from  
When you go just let me know  
And, I'll be there  
Coz, i just want to let you know  
That i will never let you go, oh  
I found you and know i know  
That i will never let you go_

Jurgen had been understanding. Disappointed, but understanding. He didn't really get relationships, though.

Vince was always hard to read. He laughed at the advert. But Howard had always known he would. The thing was ridiculous. It hurt when Adam came out, though. He didn't think they could replace him.

Vince told him he couldn't. But he needed someone. Needed someone like Howard to be there. To make his absence easier to bear. Vince burst into tears when Howard pressed him on that. Blamed the younger man's need to maintain his image.

That had shocked him. Shocked him into holding Vince. The younger man latched on like a limpet.

"I'm never letting you go again, Howard." He whispered.

Howard thought the same thing as he wrapped his arms around Vince.


	9. Truth is a Whisper

**Song Drabble**

**Truth is a Whisper**

**Goo Goo Dolls**

Truth is a whisper and only a chance  
Nobody hears above this noise  
It's always a risk when you try and believe

You know all I am  
Feel this moment in you  
You know all I am  
Can you teach me to believe in something

Vince didn't trust Howard's shouted admission of love, purely because he told the entire world.

Vince didn't trust things that everyone knew about.

That was why he had Howard.

That was why he kept Howard to himself. That was why he'd unintentionally pulled Howard's potential apart. That was why Howard was entirely his. Because Vince only trusted what no one else knew. What no one else could corrupt. Howard was pure. Howard was Vince's entire existence. His foundations.

Vince didn't know what to think when Howard screamed to the world the one thing Vince had always hoped to hear from Howard's mouth. That admission of love. Howard had taught him to believe in a lot of things. Things told in whispers, that no one else could hear.

Vince knew if Howard had told him in a whisper, he would never have had any doubts.


	10. Uptown Girl

**Song Drabble**

**Uptown Girl**

**Billy Joel**

_Uptown girl  
She's my uptown girl  
You know I'm in love  
With an uptown girl_  
My uptown girl

You_ know I've seen her in her uptown world  
She's getting tired of her high class toys  
And all her presents from her uptown boys  
She's got a choice_

_She'll see I'm not so tough  
Just because  
I'm in love with an uptown girl_

Howard looked up to the sound of heels on the stairs. Vince sauntered over, wearing a tired grin.

"I'm fucked, Howard." He muttered, collapsing onto the couch. He emitted a soft sigh and cuddled up to Howard. It took a little effort not to reflex with 'don't touch me'. But all the same, Howard felt the familiar flutter in his chest. Vince sighed, content against his chest, and Howard couldn't help but let a silly smile pull at his cheeks.

"I'm tired. Howard."  
"Maybe you should stay in more."  
"Think so," Vince murmured. "M'tired of them all. Just stay in with you." Howard's grin widened, fingers reaching down to stroke Vince's hair. The smaller man sighed, content. Howard's heart was thumping hard. His dreams half fulfilled already.


	11. Wannabe

**Song Drabble**

**Disclaimer: None of this belongs to me, i make no profit, so stay away Spice Girls... but i would very much appreciate a visit from the Boosh Boys... XD**

**Wanna be**

**Spice Girls**

I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,  
So tell me what you want, what you really really want,  
I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want,

Make it last forever friendship never ends,  
If you wanna be my lover,

Vince was impulsive.

He was an impulsive buyer.

An impulsive shopper.

An impulsive sleeper.

An impulsive cleaner.

An impulsive drinker.

He had to try everything.

Could never stand still.

But he wasn't an impulsive lover.

He knew what he wanted.

He knew how he wanted it.

He knew when he wanted it.

He knew how long he'd wanted it

But knew he wasn't brave enough.

Vince didn't want it over before it began.

Not like everything else.

Didn't want to ruin it.

Vince wanted Howard.


	12. Wrinkles

**Song Drabble**

**Wrinkles **

**John Williamson**

_And you ask is he happy...and you ask is he happy...?  
He had wrinkles from smiling  
He felt lucky and free  
And he knew what it meant to live here in the sunshine  
He had wrinkles...... _

When Howard looks into the mirror these days, he can't help but smile. His hair might be grey and thinning on top, his knees might creak and pain him in the cold. Some days it's hard to get out of bed. Sometimes his heart pains him too much. Naboo's still ageless, but Howard's stooped and old. Vince's smile still haunts his face, even though it's been near a season since he was swept away with the wind. Naboo knows the wind is coming again. Howard's aged a lot since Vince left him behind. They were old before, but now you saw it. Saw the wrinkles.

Howard calls them wrinkles from smiling, and Naboo can't help but agree. Ever since that day all those years ago, Howard and Vince never stopped smiling.

Even now, as the wind tugs the old man away from his weary body, he's still smiling. Only now Naboo knows it's because Vince is with him again.

Wrinkles from smiling.

Sometimes Naboo wishes he could smile as much as they could.


	13. Keeping it Secret

When Naboo comes out of his room at 7:15, Vince is sitting on the floor by the coffee table, playing with a deck of cards. His tongue is sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he tries to balance the third row. The cards will be useless now, as Vince carefully bends them so they'll stand properly. Howard is sitting on the other end of the couch, as far away from Vince as he can be, reading a book; it's something massive and ridiculously pretentious, no doubt.

When Naboo comes back from Tesco at 7:47, the majority of Vince's cards are scattered all over the floor, the smaller man back to seriously stacking them into a tower. Howard's 'still' reading. Naboo smiles as he notices the small changes; Howard's rollneck is on backwards, his book upside down, Vince's hair is mussed at the back and his hands are shaking as he sets down the cards. He's only wearing one sock, and it's brown. Howard is sitting at the opposite end of the couch, his leg pressed up against Vince.

Naboo understands he should tell them he knows, but the secrecy is more fun, for everyone involved.


	14. For Everyone Involved

**For everyone involved**

**Disclaimer: none of this is mine and nor do i intend to offend with the material contained herein.**

When Naboo comes out of his room at 7:15, Vince is sitting on the floor by the coffee table, playing with a deck of cards. His tongue is sticking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration as he tries to balance the third row. The cards will be useless now, as Vince carefully bends them so they'll stand properly. Howard is sitting on the other end of the couch, as far away from Vince as he can be, reading a book; it's something massive and ridiculously pretentious, no doubt.

When Naboo comes back from Tesco at 7:47, the majority of Vince's cards are scattered all over the floor, the smaller man back to seriously stacking them into a tower. Howard's 'still' reading. Naboo smiles as he notices the small changes; Howard's rollneck is on backwards, his book upside down, Vince's hair is mussed at the back and his hands are shaking as he sets down the cards. He's only wearing one sock, and it's brown. Howard is sitting at the opposite end of the couch, his leg pressed up against Vince.

Naboo understands he should tell them he knows, but the secrecy is more fun, for everyone involved.


	15. Long Time Coming

**Long time coming.**

**No thats not what I mean you DIRTY CREEPERS. GET OUT.**

**:P lol.**

**Disclaimer: none of this is mine and i dont intend to offend.**

It's taken them twenty-two years, seven months, sixteen days to reach this point.

He's no usually so thoughtful, but this quiet, is just _too_ quiet and it's too nice to break – to move, so his mind does the moving instead.

It's taken twenty-two years, seven months, sixteen days for everything to feel this perfect, wrapped in Howard's warm embrace. It could have all crumbled - he knows that.

But it didn't.

It all fell perfectly into place, like it was twenty-two years seven months sixteen days in the making.

It's a little bit depressing, he thinks, that they've taken this long to figure everything out. Perhaps they were never meant to reach this point and just got lucky, or perhaps they needed all that time to reach a point where this perfection was inevitable.

Either way he doesn't really care. It's been twenty-two years, seven months and sixteen days, but this moment, the feel of Howard's chest rising and falling under him, the feel of fingers lovingly wandering through his hair, over his shoulder, resting on his hip, is worth every second.

It's been twenty-two years, seven months, sixteen days to reach this point, but now there's a new horizon.


	16. Never Sick of It

**Never sick of it.**

**Disclaimer: none of this is mine, nor is it intended to offend.**

He always claims that he never gets sick, but he _always_ does.

Winter sets in and despite how much effort he puts into his wardrobe, he always manages to get a cold.

It's ridiculous, the way he acts though; a stubborn bratty child, hiding under a blanket looking utterly miserable at all times, as if nothing in the world is as unfair as the fact his nose is bright red and his eyes wont stop watering, leaving tracks down his cheeks.

It's the most hilarious sight, looking at him moping in the middle of his bed. But he won't laugh because then the moping would get worse; it wouldn't be anything nasty but he's always too worked up to take any teasing in jest.

He's the biggest pain when he's sick, but it's nice looking after him, and it's not often that Vince gets to look after Howard these days.


	17. The Game

**The Game**

**Disclaimer: none of this is mine, not intended to offend.**

The Game always starts the moment they're awake Friday morning.

Howard makes breakfast, in nothing but his vest and pants. Proudly showing off his Northern Pins.

Vince lingers behind, running a finger across bared skin, leaving shivers in his wake, a soft moan in his ears.

The Game continues right through lunch.

Vince plays with the celebradar, half bent over in skintight jeans. Howard sneaks up and wraps the younger man in his arms, fitting together like a well-worn jigsaw. His cock presses against Vince's arse, his jazzy fingers teasing the skin between tshirt and tight jeans.

A teasing grumble of ill thought innuendo making knees weak, a cheeky retort returning a shiver of longing.

The Game keeps on right through dinner.

They match each other's play, coaxing small weaknesses with well-known intent. Cheeky pats on the arse, whispered filth, teasing demonstrations with boiled candy and ice-lollies.

But no matter the tricks, the Game always has the same ending; when the flat is finally empty of stoned landlord and primate DJ, the teasing ends. Clothes are scattered. Fingers fumble, tongues tease and words are whispered, words of desperation, of release.

Words of filth, of friendship, of love.

Of next Friday.

**Reviews anyone? Let me know which ones you like best, which ones you hate and which ones made you lol. I like to know, yeah? :P**

**If you're nice I might post my Rosey/Bauer and Dan/Jones ones, :P **

**You have to earn them though! **

**Captain Jacq**


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